ninety-nine, which provides for the storage of unclaimed merchandise, as conflicts with the provisions of this act, shall be, and is hereby repealed: Provided, also, That when such goods are of a perishable nature, they shall be sold forthwith.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That on and after the day this law goes into effect, there shall be allowed a drawback on foreign sugar refined in the United States, and exported therefrom, equal in amount to the duty paid on the foreign sugar from which it shall be manufactured, to be ascertained under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and no more; and on spirits distilled from foreign molasses, a drawback of five cents per gallon, till the first day of January, eighteen hundred and forty-three, when it shall be reduced one cent per gallon; and annually, on the first day of January thereafter, the said drawback shall be reduced one cent per gallon until the same shall be wholly discontinued: Provided, That this act shall not alter or repeal any law now in force regulating the exportation of sugar refined or spirits distilled from molasses in the United States, except as to the rates of duties and drawbacks.

Drawbacks on

foreign sugar United States, and on spirits distilled from foreign molasses.

refined in the

No drawback within three unless exported

years.

No additional

SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That, in the case of all goods, wares, and merchandise, imported on and after the day this act goes into operation, and entitled to debenture under existing laws, no drawback of the duties shall be allowed on the same, unless said goods, wares, or merchandise shall be exported from the United States within three years from the date of the importation of the same; nor shall the additional rate of duty levied by this act on goods, wares, and merchan- duty refunded. dise, imported in foreign vessels, be refunded in case of re-exportation : Provided, That two and one half per centum on the amount of all drawbacks allowed, except on foreign and refined sugars, shall be retained, for the use of the United States, by the collectors paying such retained by the drawbacks, respectively; and in the case of foreign refined sugars, ten per centum shall be so retained.

SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That in all cases where there is or shall be imposed any ad valorem rate of duty on any goods, wares, or merchandise, imported into the United States, and in all cases where the duty imposed shall by law be regulated by, or directed to be estimated or based upon, the value of the square yard, or of any specified quantity or parcel of such goods, wares, or merchandise, it shall be the duty of the collector, within whose district the same shall be imported or entered, to cause the actual market value or wholesale price thereof, at the time when purchased, in the principal markets of the country from which the same shall have been imported into the United States, or of the yards, parcels, or quantities, as the case may be, to be appraised, estimated, and ascertained, and to such value or price, to be ascertained in the manner provided in this act, shall be added all costs and charges except insurance, and including, in every case, a charge for commissions at the usual rates as the true value at the port where the same may be entered upon which duties shall be assessed. shall, in every such case, be the duty of the appraisers of the United States, and every of them, and every person who shall act as such appraiser, or of the collector and naval officer, as the case may be, by all reasonable ways and means in his or their power, to ascertain, estimate, and appraise the true and actual market value and wholesale price, any invoice or affidavit thereto to the contrary notwithstanding, of the said goods, wares, and merchandise, at the time purchased, and in the principal markets of the country whence the same shall have been imported into the United States, and the number of such yards, parcels, or quantities, and such actual market value or wholesale price of every of them, as the case may require; and all such goods, wares, or merchandise, being manufactured of wool, or whereof wool shall be a com

And it

Proviso, a per

centum to be

United States.

Actual market value, in the country whence and when imported, to be ascertained.

Costs to be

added.

Unfinished

woollens to be rated as finish

ed.

Proviso.

Examination of owners and

authorized.

For refusal to attend or answer, a forfeit

to be final.

False swearing, perjurygoods forfeited therefor.

ponent part, which shall be imported into the United States in an unfinished condition, shall, in every such appraisal, be taken, deemed, and estimated to have been at the time purchased, and place whence the same were imported into the United States, of as great value as if the same had been entirely finished: Provided, That in all cases where goods, wares, and merchandise, subject to ad valorem duty, or on which the duties are to be levied upon the value of the square yard, and in all cases where any specífic quantity or parcel of such goods, wares, and merchandise, shall have been imported into the United States from a country in which the same have not been manufactured or produced, the foreign value shall be appraised and estimated according to the current market value or wholesale price of similar articles at the principal markets of the country of production or manufacture, at the period of the exportation of said goods, wares, and merchandise, to the United States.

SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the appraisers, or the collector and naval officer, as the case may be, to call others, on oath, before them and examine, upon oath or affirmation, any owner, importer, consignee or other person, touching any matter or thing which they may deem material in ascertaining the true market value or wholesale price of any merchandise imported, and to require the production, on oath or affirmation, to the collector or to any permanent appraiser, of any letters, accounts, or invoices, in his possession relating to the same, for which purpose they are hereby respectively authorized to administer oaths and affirmations; and if any person so called shall neglect or refuse to attend, or shall decline to answer, or shall, if required, refuse to answer in writing any interrogatories, and subscribe his name to his the appraisem't deposition, or to produce such papers, when so required, he shall forfeit and pay to the United States the sum of one hundred dollars; and if such person be the owner, importer, or consignee, the appraisement which the said appraisers, or collector and naval officer, where there are no legal appraisers, may make of the goods, wares, and merchandise, shall be final and conclusive, any act of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding; and any person who shall wilfully and corruptly swear or affirm falsely on such examination, shall be deemed guilty of perjury; and if he be the owner, importer, or consignee, the merchandise shall be forfeited; and all testimony in writing, or depositions, taken by virtue of this section, shall be filed in the collector's office, and preserved for future use or reference, to be transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury when he shall require the same: Provided, That if the imIn case of dis- porter, owner, agent, or consignee, of any such goods, shall be dissatisfied with the appraisement, and shall have complied with the foregoing requisitions, he may forthwith give notice to the collector, in writing, of such dissatisfaction; on the receipt of which, the collector shall select two discreet and experienced merchants, citizens of the United States, familiar with the character and value of the goods in question, to examine and appraise the same, agreeably to the foregoing provisions; and if they shall disagree, the collector shall decide between them; and the appraisement thus determined shall be final, and deemed and taken to be the true value of said goods, and the duties shall be levied thereon accordingly, any act of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, also, That in all cases where the actual value to be appraised, estimated, and ascertained as herein before stated, of any goods, wares, and merchandise, imported into the United States, and subject to any ad valorem duty, or whereon the duty is regulated by or directed to be imposed or levied on the value of the square yard, or other parcel or quantity thereof, shall exceed by ten per centum or more the invoice value, then, in addition to the duty imposed by law on the same, there shall be levied and collected, on the same goods, wares, and merchan

satisfaction with

the appraisement, another

may be made

how.

Additional du

ty in case the appraisement exceed the invoice 10 per ct.

dise, fifty per centum of the duty imposed on the same, when fairly invoiced.

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That the several collectors be, and they are hereby, authorized, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, whenever they shall deem it necessary to protect and secure the revenue of the United States against frauds or undervaluation, and the same is practicable, to take the amount of duties chargeable on any article bearing an ad valorem rate of duty, in the article itself, according to the proportion or rate per centum of the duty on said article; and such goods, so taken, the collector shall cause to be sold at public auction, within twenty days from the time of taking the same, in the manner prescribed in this act, and place the proceeds arising from such sale in the Treasury of the United States; Provided, That the collector or appraiser shall not be allowed any fees or commissions for taking and disposing of said goods, and paying the proceeds thereof into the Treasury, other than are now allowed by law. SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall knowingly and wilfully, with intent to defraud the revenue of the United States, smuggle or clandestinely introduce into the United States any goods, wares, or merchandise, subject to duty by law, and which should have been invoiced, without paying or accounting for the duty, or shall make out, or pass, or attempt to pass, through the custom-house, any false, forged, or fraudulent invoice, every such person, his, her, or their aiders and abettors, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding five thousand dollars, or imprisoned for any term of time not exceeding two years, or both, at the discretion of the court.

Authority to

the article itself, in certain cases, and to sell the same.

take duties in

Attempts to defraud the reble by fine and venue punishaimprisonment.

Duties on non

ticles.

SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That there shall be levied, collected, and paid, on each and every non-enumerated article which bears enumerated ara similitude, either in material, quality, texture, or the use to which it may be applied, to any enumerated article chargeable with duty, the same rate of duty which is levied and charged on the enumerated article which it most resembles in any of the particulars before mentioned ; and if any non-enumerated article equally resembles two or more enumerated articles, on which different rates of duty are chargeable, there shall be levied, collected, and paid, on such non-enumerated article, the same rate of duty as is chargeable on the article which it resembles paying the highest duty; and on all articles manufactured from two or more materials, the duty shall be assessed at the highest rates at which any of its component parts may be chargeable.

SEC. 21. And be it further enacted, That the collector shall designate on the invoice at least one package of every invoice, and one package at least of every ten packages of goods, wares, or merchandise, and a greater number, should he or either of the appraisers deem it necessary, imported into such port, to be opened, examined, and appraised, and shall order the package or packages so designated to the public stores for examination; and if any package be found by the appraisers to contain any article not specified in the invoice, and they or a majority of them shall be of opinion that such article was omitted in the invoice with fraudulent intent on the part of the shipper, owner, or agent, the contents of the entire package in which the article may be shall be liable to seizure and forfeiture on conviction thereof before any court of competent jurisdiction; but if said appraisers shall be of opinion that no such fraudulent intent existed, then the value of such article shall be added to the entry, and the duties thereon paid accordingly, and the same shall be delivered to the importer, agent, or consignee: Provided, That such forfeiture may be remitted by the Secretary of the Treasury, on the production of evidence, satisfactory to him, that no fraud was intended: Provided further, That if on the opening of any of the

Examination packages required, &c.

of invoices and

Where there

package or packages of goods, a deficiency of any article shall be found, on examination by the appraisers, the same shall be certified to the collector on the invoice, and an allowance for the same be made in estimating the duties.

SEC. 22. And be it further enacted, That where goods, wares, and are no apprais. merchandise shall be entered at ports where there are no appraisers, the mode hereinbefore prescribed of ascertaining the foreign value thereof, shall be carefully observed by the revenue officers to whom is committed the estimating and collection of duties.

ers, appraise.

ment to be

made, by whom.

Sec. Treas. to establish rules

of goods.

SEC. 23. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury from time to time to establish such rules and for the appraisal regulations, not inconsistent with the laws of the United States, to secure a just, faithful, and impartial appraisal of all goods, wares, and merchandise, as aforesaid, imported into the United States, and just and proper entries of such actual market value or wholesale price thereof, and of the square yards, parcels, or other quantities, as the case may require, and of such actual market value or wholesale price of every of them.

Officers of the

cute instruc

SEC. 24. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of all customs to exe- collectors and other officers of the customs to execute and carry into tions of the Se-effect all instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury relative to the execution of the revenue laws; and in case any difficulty shall arise as to the true construction or meaning of any part of such revenue laws, the decision of the Secretary of the Treasury shall be conclusive and binding upon all such collectors and other officers of the customs.

cretary of the Treasury.

Act not to apply to vessels having left their last port of lading, beyond the Cape of Good Hope, &c. before 1st Sept.

1842-laws applicable thereto.

Laws existing on 1st June 1842, in force for certain purposes.

Laws inconsistent herewith repealed.

Sec. Treas. to

ascertain whe

ther the duty on

any article has

exceeded 35 per cent., and report to Congress.

Indecent prints and paintings prohibited.

SEC. 25. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act contained shall apply to goods shipped in a vessel bound to any port of the United States, actually having left her last port of lading eastward of the Cape of Good Hope or beyond Cape Horn prior to the first day of September, eighteen hundred and forty-two; and all legal provisions and regulations existing immediately before the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and forty-two, shall be applied to importations which may be made in vessels which have left such last port of lading eastward of the Cape of Good Hope or beyond Cape Horn prior to said first day of September, eighteen hundred and forty-two.

SEC. 26. And be it further enacted, That the laws existing on the first day of June, eighteen hundred and forty-two, shall extend to and be in force for the collection of the duties imposed by this act on goods, wares, and merchandise, imported into the United States, and for the recovery, collection, distribution and remission of all fines, penalties, and forfeitures, and for the allowance of the drawbacks by this act authorized, as fully and effectually as if every regulation, restriction, penalty, forfeiture, provision, clause, matter, and thing, in the said laws contained, had been inserted in and re-enacted by this act. And that all provisions of any former law inconsistent with this act, shall be, and the same are hereby, repealed.

SEC. 27. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, annually, to ascertain whether, for the year ending on the thirtieth of June, next preceding, the duty on any articles has exceeded thirty-five per centum ad valorem on the average wholesale market value of such articles, in the several ports of the United States for the preceding year; and, if so, he shall report a tabular statement of such articles and excess of duty to Congress, at the commencement of the next annual session thereof, with such observations and recommendations as he may deem necessary for the improvement of the revenue.

SEC. 28. And be it further enacted, That the importation of all indecent and obscene prints, paintings, lithographs, engravings, and transparencies is hereby prohibited; and no invoice or package whatever,

or any part thereof, shall be admitted to entry, in which any such articles are contained; and all invoices and packages whereof any such articles shall compose a part, are hereby declared to be liable to be proceeded against, seized, and forfeited, by due course of law, and the said articles shall be forthwith destroyed.

SEC. 29. And be it further enacted, That, wherever the word "ton" is used in this act, in reference to weight, it shall be deemed and taken to be twenty hundred weight, each hundred weight being one hundred and twelve pounds avoirdupois.

SEC. 30. And be it further enacted, That so long as the distribution of the nett proceeds of the sales of the public lands, directed to be made among the several States, Territories, and District of Columbia, by the act entitled "An act to appropriate the proceeds of the sales of the public lands and to grant pre-emption rights," shall be and remain suspended by virtue of this act, and of the proviso of the sixth section of the act aforesaid, the ten per centum of the said proceeds directed to be paid by the said act to the several States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Michigan, shall also be and remain suspended.

APPROVED, August 30, 1842.

CHAP. CCLXXI.—An Act to establish an additional land office in Florida. (a) Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of the public lands of the United States in the Territory of Florida, as lies east of the Suwannee river, and west of the line dividing ranges twenty-four and twenty-five, except that lying east of St. Mary's river, north of the basis parallel, shall form a new land district, to be called the Alachua land district; and, for the sale of the public lands within the district aforesaid there shall be a land office established in the town of Newnansville, in the county of Alachua, in the Territory aforesaid.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall be a register and receiver appointed to said office, to superintend the sale of the public land in said district, who shall reside at the town of Newnansville aforesaid, give security in the same manner and sums, and whose compensation, emoluments, duties, and authorities, shall, in every respect, be the same, in relation to lands to be disposed of at said office, as are or may be by law provided in relation to the registers and receivers of public money in the several offices established for the sale of the public lands.

Weight of the

ton.

Ten per cent. of the proceeds of the public lands allowed to certain states suspended. Act of Sept. 4, 1841, ch. 16.

STATUTE II.

Aug. 30, 1842.

Alachua land district established.

Land office at Newnansville.

Register and receiver to be appointed.

The lands sub

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That all such public lands, embraced within the district created by this act, which shall have been ject to sale. offered for sale to the highest bidder at any land office in said Territory, pursuant to any proclamation of the President of the United States, and which lands remain unsold at the taking effect of this act, shall be subject to be entered and sold at private sale by the proper officers of the office hereby created, in the same manner, and subject to the same terms, and upon like conditions, as the sale of said land would have been subject to in the said several land offices hereinbefore mentioned, had they remained attached to the same.

APPROVED, August 30, 1842.

STATUTE II.

CHAP. CCLXXII. — An Act for the relief of the assistants of the Marshal of the Aug. 30, 1842.

United States for the District of Kentucky.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the circuit judge for

(a) Notes of the acts relating to the territory of Florida, vol. 3, 523, 654.